LOS ANGELES — Police engaged in a roughly 20-minute standoff Saturday with a knife-wielding man on the floor of Los Angeles' Staples Center, where the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers were set to play later in the day.

Police tackled and apprehended the man after the face-off on the court near the visitors' bench area.

Some spectators for the 12:30 p.m. game had begun filing into the arena, but were evacuated once the standoff started. The players were confined to their locker rooms.

Police spokeswoman Officer Norma Eisenman said the report of the man with a knife came in shortly after 11 a.m. from an off-duty officer and confirmed his arrest, but had no further information about his identity or how he got into the arena.

Michael Roth, a spokesman for Staples Center owner AEG, had no comment about the incident, but said it would not affect the game.